Moscow's unchanging face: Chauvinism, Islamophobia became leading political-ideological line in Russia

Russia is a very strange state. Neither its friendship, nor its partnership is genuine. It can change and become hostile at any moment. All its structures, even its media, are ready to act in this regard. This is the basis of its colonialist, oppressive, and fearful nature.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia began to implement its aggressive, colonialist behavior in Azerbaijan by hiding under the occupation of Karabakh and the surrounding districts by Armenia. Moscow announced that this problem was not left from the Soviets and that they were trying to resolve it. However, the Russian co-chair in the OSCE Minsk Group behaved as if he were the owner of Karabakh and tried to use it as a tool for pressure on official Baku. Russia also took advantage of this conflict against Yerevan. Moscow participated in their management by conducting propaganda in Armenia that “if I leave here, Azerbaijan will destroy you.”

However, the complete restoration of territorial integrity and sovereignty by Azerbaijan with its own power has fundamentally changed the realities in the region, which cannot but cause concern in the Kremlin.

It has reached the point that the Armenian state and Armenian society, which look to Moscow as their "Qibla", also want to distance themselves from Russia. Even Yerevan, which signed the act of capitulation and was a favorite of Moscow before the war, sees the complete closure of the Karabakh issue as an opportunity to get rid of Russia. The Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, Alen Simonyan, said that Russia cannot be trusted, it has abandoned Armenians in difficult times. Armenian labor migrants, on the other hand, report that they have been deported from Russia, and say that the attitude towards migrants there has changed for the worse. According to them, in previous years, when problems arose with documents, Russia used to be more loyal to this issue. For example, they would warn about the need to fine or resolve the issue.

The recent raids by Russian law enforcement agencies on Azerbaijani families in Yekaterinburg, the murder of two people, and the arrest and torture of other family members are a manifestation of Russia's racist nature.

This is not only due to the military-political and economic crisis that Moscow has fallen into. The situation in Russia has become so criminalized that the "skinhead" gangs of the 1990s have been replaced by special police units and other law enforcement agencies. In other words, xenophobia and racism have become the policy of this state.

Attacks on mosques have also become commonplace in Russia. The arson attack on the Al-Sahab mosque in Ryazan on July 1 can be an example of this. This is the result of Islamophobic propaganda carried out by Russian political ideologues. The incident was committed by a 16-year-old. This young man does not yet understand religions. He is being led to this criminal path by propaganda.

The anti-Azerbaijani, anti-Caucasus, and anti-Islam propaganda carried out by Russian media resources may result in the fragmentation of Russian society, since not all Muslims are immigrants from Azerbaijan and Central Asian countries. The Muslim population of Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Dagestan, and other regions has raised its voice against such crimes and demanded that the perpetrators be punished.

Thus, in Russia, which is isolated in world politics today, chauvinism and Islamophobia have become the leading political and ideological line. The recruitment of Muslim migrants into the army with the lure of "citizenship" is also a form of discrimination. Due to the lack of human resources in the war in Ukraine, Russia is trying to recruit migrants, especially people of Caucasian and Central Asian origin, by using blackmail and violence against them. Methods such as torture, false criminal charges, and threats to family members are used against those who refuse. The Yekaterinburg crime is no exception and is another manifestation of this policy.